EP3826812B1 - Method and control system for calibrating a handling device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for referencing, calibrating and/or initializing a handling device, in particular a parallel kinematic robot also known as a so-called tripod, according to the features of independent method claim 1. The invention also relates to a program-controlled handling device with the features of claim 10 , in particular a program-controlled handling and/or parallel kinematics robot with a tool head suspended on at least two parallel kinematically movable arms, which is equipped with a control system which is particularly equipped and suitable for carrying out the method and which is used for referencing, calibration and/or the Initialize a handling device or a parallel kinematics robot is used.

If stackable and/or palletizable objects such as packages or bundles made up of several individual items, which can be formed from interconnected beverage containers, for example, are to be fed to suitable packaging or palletizing systems, the objects are usually transported using horizontal conveyor systems with conveyor belts which the piece goods or containers are conveyed to a handling facility in an uninterrupted or irregular sequence. There is a displacement, alignment and / or rotation of individual cargo or containers to bring them into a suitable spatial arrangement that forms a basis to push the cargo or containers together in downstream grouping stations to stackable cargo or container layers. In currently used bottling and packaging lines, different methods are used for turning piece goods or containers, which can have, for example, suitable movable stops or two belts with different speeds. Known handling devices can also be provided with grippers that can be suspended from a portal system, for example, and moved, rotated and also moved in the vertical direction within a defined range of movement in order to be able to lift individual piece goods or containers for rotating and/or moving. the Grippers can also be arranged, for example, on multi-axis robot arms that are placed on the side of the horizontal conveyor devices.

In practice, the handling of piece goods or bundles includes lifting, moving and/or aligning and bringing or transferring the respective piece goods or bundle into a desired position or orientation within a grouping suitable for stacking and/or palletizing. In order to meet these requirements, the known prior art already offers numerous gripping devices with gripping arms that can be adjusted against one another, such as, for example, the EP 2 388 216 A1 . Another gripping device shows, for example, the DE 102 04 513 A1 . There, several opposing gripper arms are guided in a center piece. One gripper arm is displaceable in relation to another gripper arm by means of an actuator, so that both gripper arms can be closed. At the lower ends of the gripping arms, gripping sections for gripping packages of building materials are provided on the sides facing one another.

In addition to handling devices in the form of portal robots, other handling devices for gripping, moving, rotating and/or moving articles or containers are also used in practice, which are based on so-called delta robots or parallel kinematic robots, which in a three-armed design are also referred to as tripods . Each of the arms of such a tripod or delta robot consists of an upper arm arranged on the base such that it can be pivoted about a pivot axis which is fixed to the frame, and a lower arm which is articulated to the upper arm and the coupling element. Here, the lower arm is passive, running without a drive for pivoting it in relation to the upper arm or the coupling element. One or more of the lower arms can be connected to the associated upper arms and the coupling element, for example via ball joints. Such a single forearm is freely pivotable and has no intrinsic stability. All of the upper arms of a delta robot are mounted so that they can be pivoted and driven about pivot axes that preferably lie within a common plane. In every position, three forearms connected to the coupling element and each to their associated upper arm form a force triangle that can only be moved if the three upper arms synchronously execute the pivoting movements calculated for them about their pivot axes fixed to the frame. Two or more pivot axes can run parallel; as a rule, all pivot axes have two points of intersection with other pivot axes.

At least one of the forearms can consist of two linkage elements, which can also be referred to as ulna and spoke and thus form a parallelogram linkage, in order to guide the coupling element in at least one predetermined orientation relative to the base. The coupling element serves as a work platform or tool head, which is also referred to as a tool center point (TCP) in practice. A manipulator can be arranged on this tool head or TCP, e.g.

The manipulator arranged on the work platform, the tool head or the TCP can optionally be rotatably mounted in order to align the manipulator or to be able to perform a desired rotation of the articles or piece goods. Instead of rotatably mounting the manipulator on the coupling element, it is basically also conceivable to arrange the manipulator non-rotatably on the coupling element and to rotate the entire coupling element with a corresponding compensating movement of the arms by means of the telescopic shaft relative to the base. From the DE 10 2010 006 155 A1 , from the DE 10 2013 208 082 A1 as well as from the U.S. 8,210,068 B1 various handling devices with parallel kinematic robots are known.

The parallel kinematic robots often used as handling robots have a very high positioning accuracy due to their precise controllability and the pronounced rigidity of the interacting movable actuating arms and can also be operated at very high positioning speeds. However, the actuator arms, which are generally driven by electric motors, require a calibration of all existing drives in order to function properly, so that the control commands can also be converted into appropriate actuating movements. If there is no calibration or there is insufficient calibration, there would be a risk, especially after a restart of the system, that the control system would not have exact position values for the respective electric motor drives, which would also call into question the exact positioning of the drives. A new calibration of the system is therefore indispensable after every system restart, but also after every restart.

Basically, the goal of such a calibration process is to adjust each of several electric motor-driven actuator arms of the parallel kinematic robot to move against a mechanical stop. Since this mechanical stop at the same time forms an end position within the range of movement of the actuating arm in question, the position thus determined can be recorded as part of the calibration process and transmitted to the control system as the end position. A calibration procedure that makes sense in practice requires the machine to be shut down, for example by pressing an emergency stop switch, because only then can a safety partition of the machine, which has to protect against unwanted manual intervention, be unlocked and opened. Such a safety partition, which can be formed by a partially glazed enclosure known per se, usually has doors or flaps or the like, which can only be opened when the handling device is shut down. A calibration device, which can be formed, for example, by a bolt that can be inserted within the pivoting range of an upper arm of the parallel kinematic robot, can then be inserted and secured in its intended position. Then, after the previously opened doors or flaps have been closed, the calibration process can be started by pivoting the upper arm, which can be pivoted by an electric motor, against the latch and thus assuming a defined end position of the upper arm. Since these calibration processes usually have to be carried out by two people and have to be repeated for each upper arm after the manually insertable bolt has been repositioned, the entire process is very time-consuming. In addition, there remains the risk that mechanical damage may occur to the handling device after a calibration that has been carried out incorrectly or incompletely.

A parallel-arm robot with facilities for calibrating the position of actuator arms goes out of the DE 10 2013 014 273 B4 out. In order to be able to detect deviations in the positioning movements from target movements after a longer period of operation and to be able to produce the desired positioning precision, individual drive arms are pivoted to predetermined reference positions during position calibration, while position signals from rotation detectors of the arms are used to identify the original positions of the drive motors. The calibration devices used work with dial gauges, to which the drive arms are placed.

The precision of such a calibration thus depends not only on the exact attachment of the dial gauges, the quality and repeatability of the contacting interaction of the drive arm with the dial gauge and the accuracy of the display Dial gauges, but also on the reading accuracy of the dial gauges, which has to be done by an observer, which results in numerous sources of error for the measurements and for the calibration processes.

In view of the disadvantages and limitations recognized in the prior art, the primary objective of the present invention can be seen as providing an improved calibration method that can be carried out in particular with less personnel and time expenditure, as well as a corresponding control system that not only leads to more reliable results, but that is also reproducible at any time, so that calibration errors caused by incorrect manual operation can be almost completely ruled out.

This object of the invention is achieved with the subject-matters of the independent claims. Features of advantageous developments of the invention emerge from the dependent claims and from the following disclosure of the invention.

In order to achieve the goal identified as having priority, the present invention proposes a method for referencing, calibrating and/or initializing a handling device, in particular a handling and/or parallel kinematic robot with a tool head suspended on at least two parallel kinematically movable arms, which has the following features and method steps includes. In the handling and/or parallel kinematics robot to be referenced and/or calibrated and/or initialized, a movable and adjustable drive connection is provided between a stationary drive motor and the tool head, which can be moved about at least one axis of rotation, with the movable drive connection being provided in particular by a length-variable and/or articulated cardan shaft can be formed.

In addition, in the handling and/or parallel kinematics robot to be referenced and/or calibrated and/or initialized, each of the at least two arms includes an upper arm that can be moved by motor around a defined upper arm pivot axis between two end positions, and a lower arm that is pivotably mounted on the upper arm. These arms hold the tool head, which is movably suspended on the at least two lower arms and can be moved within a defined movement space by means of program-controlled and coordinated pivoting movements of the upper arms and the lower arms guided thereby. If in the present context of such a tool head is generally mentioned In the case of a handling robot, for example, this can be a gripper arm with two grippers or gripper jaws that can be moved towards one another for grasping, lifting, moving, relocating or otherwise manipulating articles, objects, piece goods, bundles or groups of several such articles, objects, piece goods, bundles be, wherein the gripper arm is preferably configured rotatable as a whole with the grippers or gripper jaws that can be advanced towards one another. These rotational movements can be triggered and controlled by means of the above-mentioned drive connection or the length-adjustable and/or articulated cardan shaft, which drive connection or cardan shaft leads downwards in a vertical or oblique direction from an upper suspension of the parallel kinematic robot to the rotatable tool head.

Both the upper arms, which can be moved around horizontal axes, and the drive shaft responsible for the rotational movements of the tool head are typically operated by electric motors, so that with both types of drive, referencing, calibration and/or re-initialization after a machine standstill, after a power failure, a shutdown and/or a renewed Starting a control device of the exact positions of the drive units is necessary in order to be able to ensure the desired precise setting and manipulation movements of all moving and driven elements and components of the handling and/or parallel kinematics robot.

In the referencing, calibration and/or initialization method according to the invention, in a first method step, the load torques acting on the upper arm pivot axes are detected and the respective load torques acting on the at least two upper arms are compared and/or signals from position and /or angle sensors are adjusted by means of the motor drives to correspond in each case to the angular positions of the at least two upper arms. It goes without saying that to carry out this first method step, the central control unit responsible for controlling the motorized drives of the at least two upper arms is switched on and the control program is started, which, for example, requires some time for the program to start after a switch-off phase. Normally, all motor drives are also initialized and referenced in this starting phase in order to be able to convert every control command for driving the servomotors into drive movements that are as precise as possible.

In the first method step described here, in which, by detecting the load moments acting on the upper arm pivot axes and by comparing the respective load moments acting on the at least two upper arms and/or by detecting the exact positions of the upper arms by evaluating signals from the If the position and/or angle sensors assigned to the upper arms are set to match the angular positions of the at least two upper arms with the help of the motor drives, the primary goal is to find a central position for the tool head within its movement and/or manipulation space, which, due to a lack of optical or other position control can be done most sensibly by detecting the load moments acting on the upper arms, alternatively or additionally by evaluating signals from position and/or angle sensors.

When evaluating the load moments, the upper arms can be moved or moved up and down one after the other until they are within a hysteresis range of their load moments of less than one Newton meter, preferably less than 0.5 Nm, in particular approx. 0.3 Nm. have a matching load moment. In this way it can be ensured that the angular positions set on the upper arms by means of their drive motors both have minimum difference angles to the two end positions and also define a location of the tool head that is within a defined distance from an approximately central position within the movement space. If, on the other hand, the signals from the position and/or angle sensors assigned to the upper arms can be evaluated directly, this signal evaluation must be used to ensure that the angular positions set on the upper arms by means of their drive motors have both minimum difference angles to the two end positions and also a location of the tool head define, which is within a defined distance to an approximately central position within the movement space. With both sensor variants, which can optionally also be combined with one another, it can therefore be assumed that the tool head stands or hangs almost in the middle within the movement space and between the at least two movable arms after this procedure of the first method step.

It should be pointed out at this point that such a parallel kinematics or handling robot, which is the subject of the referencing, calibration and/or initialization method according to the invention, very often has three of the same dimensioned upper arms arranged at an angle of 120° to one another, each with identical lower arms and a tool head suspended between them so that it can move and/or rotate. Such so-called tripods are frequently used in practice and are excellently suited for precise movement control, for example for manipulating articles, objects, piece goods, bundles or for manipulating groups with several such articles, objects, piece goods, bundles. However, this suitability for tripods should not be understood as limiting, since the method is also suitable for parallel kinematic robots or handling robots with two arms of the same type or those with four or more movable arms.

If, in connection with special equipment variants of the handling and/or parallel kinematic robot according to the invention, the freedom of movement of certain drive and/or rotary transmission components is not to be checked, which is described in more detail below on the basis of such equipment variants, in the method according to the invention in a second method step following the first method step described above moves the at least two upper arms by simultaneous and/or approximately synchronous pivoting about their respective pivot axes up to a limit position, which is determined by a mechanical stop of the drive connection, which can be moved independently of the upper arms, and/or by a longitudinal stop of the cardan shaft is defined to the tool head, after which in a third step of the tool head and / or its associated drive connection or cardan shaft by moving back the at least two upper arms u m a defined swivel angle is/are distanced from the limit position.

The primary purpose of these second and third method steps is to find or define a stop for the longitudinal adjustability of the drive connection or cardan shaft, which should be done with the tool head centered approximately in the area of its vertical axis, which can be achieved by approximately the same angular positions of the upper arms . When all the upper arms are swiveled up or down in this approximately central position of the tool head until the upper or lower mechanical stop for the drive connection or cardan shaft is reached, the tool head can be brought into a defined position by lowering or raising the upper arms the longitudinally adjustable drive connection or Cardan shaft still has enough room for adjustment - either upwards by reducing its length or downwards by lengthening it - in order not to reach its mechanical stop again after small adjustment movements in the subsequent process steps. Overall, the result of the second and third method steps is that the set angular positions of the at least two upper arms each have defined difference angles to the two end positions and/or define a location of the tool head that is within a defined distance from an approximately central position within the movement space.

Then, in a further or fourth method step that follows the method steps described above, at least one of the at least two upper arms, in particular the three upper arms present, of the handling device or the handling robot is brought into one of its two end positions by motorized pivoting about its upper arm pivot axis, with the achieved angular position is detected by sensors and used for position and/or angle initialization of the respective upper arm. If at this point a sensory detection of the angular positions is mentioned, this in turn means a detection of load moments and/or angle values by means of angle sensors.

For example, absolute encoders can be read out, or different position sensors can be used and their signals evaluated. The respective upper arm can then be moved back from its previously set end position into a defined angular position and/or approximately into the previously assumed starting angular position. By assuming the respective end positions or mechanical stops for the upper arms, the drive units of the upper arms can be referenced in their respective positions. The upper end stops of the upper arms are normally suitable as the end positions of the upper arm pivoting movements selected for carrying out the fourth method step, which therefore also serve as reference positions for the referencing of the upper arm drive units. However, lower end stops of the upper arms can also be approached, which can also be used as reference positions for referencing the upper arm drive units.

Since not only one of the upper arms, but the at least one other or the two, three or more other upper arms are to be referenced in the same way in a fifth method step, another of the at least two upper arms of the handling device or of the handling robot is brought into one of its two end positions or optionally into the same of the two end positions that was also selected in the fourth method step, by motorized pivoting about its upper arm pivot axis, the angular position thereby achieved is detected by sensors and used to initialize the position and/or angle of the affected upper arm. Here, too, it is provided that the upper arm is moved back from its end position reached in connection with the implementation of the fifth method step into the starting angular position previously assumed.

If the handling robot or the parallel kinematics robot has more than two movable arms, in a sixth method step that follows the fifth method step and is optional or necessary for a tripod as the handling robot, a third of a total of at least three existing upper arms of the handling device or the handling robot can be moved through motorized pivoting about its upper arm pivot axis is brought into one of its two or into the same of the two end positions, which was also selected in the fourth and fifth method step for the respective pivoted other upper arms, whereby here again the angular position reached in the end position is detected by sensors and is used for position and/or angle initialization or for referencing the swivel positions of the affected upper arm. Optionally, this sixth method step can provide that the upper arm previously moved into its end position is moved back from its end position approximately into the previously assumed starting angular position.

If the handling robot or the parallel kinematics robot has more than three movable arms, a fourth of a total of at least four existing upper arms of the handling device or of the The handling robot can be brought into one of its two end positions or into the same one of the two end positions by motorized pivoting about its upper arm pivot axis, which was also selected in the fourth, fifth and sixth method step for the other pivoted upper arms, with the angular position achieved here again is detected by sensors and used to initialize the position and/or angle of the affected upper arm. Possibly also in connection with the seventh Method step can be provided that the upper arm previously moved into its end position is moved back from its end position approximately into the previously assumed starting angular position.

In the method according to the invention, it can be particularly advantageous if during the implementation of the second and / or third and / or fourth and / or fifth and / or sixth and / seventh method steps and the corresponding motor movements of the upper arms a permanent and / or The respective drive torques are recorded repeatedly at defined time intervals, since such permanent recording and monitoring can advantageously be used to ensure that exceeding a predetermined and/or variably definable difference value for torque values obtained in successive measurements as a mechanical stop and/or end stop for the affected upper arm is detected.

Such a torque limitation makes it possible to reliably detect an existing mechanical stop for each of the pivoting movements of the motor-driven upper arms that are carried out, without any optical or other sensory movement detection. In this way, a torque limit can be set for all movements of the axes that are carried out as part of a calibration and/or referencing process. Such a torque limit does not have to be fixed, but can be used and used in an advantageous manner for different angular positions and associated different torque values in a movement sequence due to the permanent dynamic possibility of change. This also results in the universal applicability and functionality of the referencing described, even with different grippers or tripod robots, which can be equipped, for example, with differently dimensioned arms and/or tool heads that are dimensioned differently and therefore have different weights.

When starting the centering, it is advantageous to identify the upper arm that delivers the highest torque value during an adjustment. This determined torque can be used, for example, to set a suitable torque limit for the subsequent calibration process on the basis of this value, possibly plus a reasonable addition of, for example, 1.5 newton meters. This can be determined during the process of centering the tool head Sufficient torque to move the tool head to the center of its range of motion without exceeding this torque limit.

In addition, the method can provide that an iterative torque detection is provided when pivoting (moving up) in the direction of the selected end position of at least one of the upper arms at its respective end stop. As a result, when the method is being carried out, it can be continuously recognized whether an end position and thus a mechanical stop has already been reached. If the previously determined torque limit is exceeded during a movement of one of the upper arms, a check is carried out to determine whether the axis in question has moved by a defined small swivel angle of, for example, more than 0.3 angular degrees since the torque limit was set or the last torque increase . If this is the case, this is not recognized as a collision or as reaching the mechanical stop, but only as a statement that the torque generated by the drive is not sufficient to move the corresponding axis. If the torque limit is then increased by a reasonable value of around 0.5 Newton meters, for example, the pivoting movement can be continued on this basis. However, if the axis movement during the measured increase in torque was less than the defined small difference angle of, for example, 0.3 degrees, it can be assumed in the method according to the invention that a collision or an end position or a mechanical end stop was reached.

The method according to the invention can also provide that while the second and/or third and/or fourth and/or fifth and/or sixth and/or seventh method steps and the corresponding motor movements of the upper arms are being carried out, one is repeated permanently and/or at defined time intervals The respective angular positions of the upper arms are detected, falling below a predetermined differential value for successively measured angular positions of a respective upper arm is recognized as a mechanical stop and/or end stop for the respective upper arm concerned.

Such an angle and/or position limitation makes it possible, with simple sensory means, to reliably detect an existing mechanical stop for each of the pivoting movements of the motor-driven upper arms that are carried out. In this way, a position or Be set angle limit, which can be used and used for different angular positions in a movement. This also results in the universal applicability and functionality of the referencing described, even with different grippers or tripod robots, which can be equipped, for example, with differently dimensioned arms and/or tool heads that are dimensioned differently and therefore have different weights.

Iterative angle detection when pivoting in the direction of the selected end position of at least one of the upper arms at its respective end stop can provide the advantage that any mechanical damage is avoided when the respective end stop is reached, since this is reached at a low adjustment speed. As a result, when the method is being carried out, it can be continuously recognized whether an end position and thus a mechanical stop has already been reached.

These process variants described can be used when all conceivable mechanical stops for the handling robot are reached, for example when the tool head is placed on a platform located below its movement space or on a horizontal conveyor device located there, which can be formed, for example, by a mat chain or similar conveyor device can. Since it does not make sense to move the tool head against this horizontal conveying device, in particular to press it down against this lower bearing surface, this position that has been reached can also be recognized and defined as the lower end position in the calibration process. If such a meaningful test was carried out by placing the gripper on its lower end stop, it can then be lifted and centered again in order to approach the upper end stops for calibration.

As has already been described above with reference to a variant of a parallel kinematics robot with a rotatable tool head that is frequently used in practice, between an upper frame arrangement or suspension, to which the two or three or more movable upper arms with their drive motors can also be attached, and the rotatable tool head arranged a shaft connection, in particular in the form of a telescoping cardan shaft. It is immediately obvious that such a telescoping cardan shaft only has to be longitudinally displaceable within sensible limits. Displaceability beyond sensible movement limits is not expedient if only for reasons of weight. This limited On the other hand, if the cardan shaft can be telescoped, this additional end stop must be taken into account in a suitable manner during the calibration process.

This further mechanical stop can also be integrated into the method according to the invention or taken into account in the process, in that the current torque of each individual upper arm is first determined for all pivoting movements and also when driving against the longitudinal stop of the cardan and plus a reasonable addition of e.g. a value of around 1.5 Nm is set as the torque limit. After driving against the upper longitudinal stop of the telescoping cardan, the tripod robot or parallel kinematic robot can be released again as the next process step.

A further embodiment variant of the method according to the invention can have an alternative and/or further method step in which, in addition to the calibration steps of the pivotable upper arms described above, a rotational position of the tool head suspended on the at least two parallel-kinematically movable arms is calibrated by rotating the tool head about a vertical or opposite to the vertical slightly inclined axis of rotation, the tool head is brought into a defined rotational position within the movement space with a known position and/or alignment of the at least two movable arms and is moved to a defined distance from an object and/or fixed contact point and then by rotating the tool head in contact with this object and/or brought to the contact point and the new rotational position reached in the process is recorded and processed for calibrating the rotary drive of the tool head.

All of the method variants described have the advantage in common that they allow precise recalibration of differently configured and/or equipped parallel kinematic robots without any manual intervention.

Using a specially defined movement sequence, which is determined depending on the current holding torque of the upper arms, the robot can be moved from any position to approximately the middle of its working area. The upper arms are then raised up to the mechanical stop of the telescopic cardan joint, if one is available. If there is no telescoping cardan shaft, a defined limit torque can also serve as a useful positioning aid for a central position of a tool head suspended from the movable arms. Once this is done, all upper arms are in one position driven to then in turn move each individual upper arm axis against its mechanical end stop. In this way, a considerable reduction in the required personnel work and time expenditure can be achieved, for which a calibration typically only has to be pressed on a control unit. A fully automatic calibration of the tripod or the parallel kinematics robot can then take place.

To achieve the above-mentioned goal, the present invention also proposes a program-controlled handling device, in particular a program-controlled handling and/or parallel kinematics robot with a tool head suspended on at least two parallel kinematically movable arms, with each of the at least two arms pivoting about a defined upper arm pivot axis comprises an upper arm that can be moved by motor between two end positions and a lower arm that is pivotably mounted on the upper arm, and wherein the arms hold the tool head that is movably suspended on the at least two lower arms and has a movable drive connection, in particular a length-variable and/or articulated cardan shaft between a stationary drive motor and the has a tool head movable about at least one axis of rotation, and by means of program-controlled and coordinated pivoting movements of the upper arms and the lower arms guided thereby within a defined rt movement space is movable. It is provided that the control programs for controlling all movements of the at least two movable arms are stored in a central control unit and include a referencing, calibration and/or initialization program or multiple referencing, calibration and/or initialization programs that are used to carry out a of the method variants described above are provided and suitable.

The program-controlled handling device characterized in this way or the handling and/or parallel kinematics robot can, for example as a handling and/or positioning robot, be part of a conveying, stacking and/or palletizing device, in particular for conveying, handling, stacking and/or for Palletizing piece goods and/or containers.

Optionally, the program-controlled handling device or the handling and/or parallel kinematics robot can also function as a handling and/or manipulation robot as part of a production and/or Form workpiece treatment device that can be used in particular for the production, treatment and / or modification of workpieces in a manufacturing environment.

It should be expressly mentioned at this point that all aspects and design variants that have been explained in connection with the method according to the invention described above equally relate or can be partial aspects of the program-controlled handling device according to the invention or the program-controlled handling and/or parallel kinematic robot according to the invention. Therefore, if certain aspects and/or connections and/or effects are mentioned at one point in the description or in the claim definitions for the method according to the invention, this applies equally to the handling device according to the invention or the robot according to the invention. The same applies in reverse, so that all aspects and design variants that have been explained in connection with the program-controlled handling device according to the invention equally relate to or can be partial aspects of the method according to the invention. Therefore, if certain aspects and/or connections and/or effects are mentioned at one point in the description or in the definition of claims for the handling device according to the invention, this applies equally to the method according to the invention.

• Fig. 1 zeigt eine Ausführungsvariante einer Maschinenumgebung, die insbesondere Teil einer Förder-, Handhabungs- und Paletteriermaschine zur Behandlung von Gebinden mit mehreren Getränkebehältern sein kann.
• Figuren 2A bis 2H zeigen in aufeinander folgenden Sequenzen verschiedene Kalibrierungsschritte einer Handhabungseinrichtung am Beispiel eines ParallelkinematikRoboters, der Teil der Maschinenumgebung gemäß Fig. 1 sein kann.
• Figuren 3A bis 3C zeigen in drei aufeinander folgenden Sequenzen verschiedene Schritte eines weiteren Kalibrierungsverfahrens der Handhabungseinrichtung bzw. des Parallelkinematik-Roboters.

In the following, exemplary embodiments are intended to explain the invention and its advantages in more detail with reference to the attached figures. The proportions of the individual elements to one another in the figures do not always correspond to the real proportions, since some forms are shown in simplified form and other forms are shown enlarged in relation to other elements for better illustration.

• 1 shows an embodiment variant of a machine environment, which can in particular be part of a conveying, handling and palletizing machine for treating packages with several beverage containers.
• Figures 2A to 2H show in successive sequences different calibration steps of a handling device using the example of a parallel kinematic robot, which is part of the machine environment according to 1 can be.
• Figures 3A to 3C show in three consecutive sequences different steps of a further calibration method of the handling device or the parallel kinematics robot.

For the same or equivalent elements of the invention are in the Figures 1 to 3C identical reference numbers are used in each case. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, as a rule only those reference symbols are used and shown in the individual figures which are useful or necessary for the description of the respective figure. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that the illustrated embodiments only represent examples of how the method according to the invention can be configured; a conclusive limitation with regard to the meaning content is not to be implied at any point.

The schematic perspective view of the 1 FIG. 12 illustrates, by way of example, a machine environment 8 in which a handling device to be calibrated according to the present invention, formed in particular by a parallel kinematics robot, can be used. The machine environment shown, which can in particular be part of a conveying, handling and/or palletizing machine for treating containers with several beverage containers, comprises a horizontal conveyor device 10 in the exemplary embodiment shown, on which packaged or piece goods, not shown here, such as containers, are transported in the transport direction 12 with a plurality of beverage containers each combined by an outer packaging are conveyed one after the other to a handling station 14, which has a level support and transport surface 16 for the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles, which in the transport direction 12 immediately follows the horizontal conveyor device 10, which is used for further transport of the packaged goods , piece goods or bundles is used in the transport direction 12, and which is at least large enough for the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles to be grasped, moved, rotated and can be positioned in the desired manner in order to form a desired layer pattern from a defined number of packaged goods, piece goods or bundles positioned and arranged in this way, in which the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles are joined together largely without gaps on a defined area.

This formed by the handling device 18 in the desired manner layer pattern can then be transported further in the transport direction 12 and from the Support and transport surface 16 are transferred to a downstream conveyor surface 20, where any gaps that may still exist between the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles brought into the layer pattern are filled by means of contact beams 22 and/or that can be displaced transversely to the transport direction 12 and horizontally in the direction of the side edges of the layer pattern can be closed by pushing together the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles by means of at least one contact beam 22 that can be raised and lowered and thus brought transversely to the transport direction 12 .

The layered arrangements formed in this way from the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles manipulated and arranged by means of the handling device 18 in the handling station 14 can preferably be stacked in layers on top of one another in a palletizing station which is located downstream of the conveying surface 20 but is not shown here and placed on a pallet for further packaging, handling and /or stored for transport and made accessible for shipping.

Like it the 1 further clarifies that the handling device 18 movably suspended in the handling station 14 is formed in the exemplary embodiment shown by a handling and/or parallel kinematic robot 24, which is equipped with three parallel kinematically movable arms 26 and a tool head 28 movably suspended thereon. The total of three movable arms 26 each comprise an upper arm that can be moved by motor about a defined upper arm pivot axis between two end positions and a lower arm that is pivotably mounted on the upper arm, which is shown in FIG 1 however, cannot be identified in detail.

In addition, the arms 26 hold the tool head 28, which is movably suspended on the three lower arms and can be moved within a defined movement space 30 in the area of the support and transport surface 16 by means of program-controlled and coordinated pivoting movements of the upper arms and the lower arms guided thereby. What also in the 1 not recognizable, but indispensable for the desired function of the handling device 18 or the parallel kinematics robot 24, are the grippers or gripper jaws which are arranged on the tool head 28 and can be advanced towards one another for gripping, lifting, moving, transferring or otherwise manipulating the packaged goods, piece goods or bundles, whereby the gripper arm that can be used in this way is designed to be rotatable as a whole with the grippers or gripper jaws that can be advanced towards one another.

These rotational movements can be initiated and controlled, in particular, by means of a cardanically movable drive shaft 30 which leads downwards in a vertical or oblique direction from an upper suspension 32 of the parallel kinematics robot 24 to the tool head 28 . The upper suspension 32, on which the upper arms of the movable arms 26 and their drive motors are mounted, as well as the at least one drive motor for the cardan shaft or drive shaft 30, forms an upper part of a frame 34 of the handling station 14. The entire handling device 18 or the parallel kinematics robot 24 are held on this upper suspension 32 and movably mounted in the manner described.

A conventional design for such parallel kinematics robots 24 provides pivot mountings for the total of three movable arms 26 on the upper suspension 32, with the upper arms 36 each being able to be moved about horizontal pivot axes 38 which are arranged below the upper suspension 32. Both the upper arms 36, which are movable about the horizontal pivot axes 38 and on which the lower arms 40 holding the tool head 28 are pivotably arranged, as well as the drive shaft 30, which is responsible for the rotational movements of the tool head 28 and the gripper jaws arranged thereon (not illustrated), are typically operated by an electric motor. the respective drive motors 42 for the upper arms 36 and 44 for the drive shaft 30, which are anchored in the upper suspension 32, are explained in more detail below Figures 2A to 2H are clearly recognizable.

A particular advantage of the electric drive motors 42 and 44 used for the handling device 18 is, on the one hand, the high setting precision that can be achieved with them, as required for the exact guidance of the tool head 28 within the movement space above the support and transport surface 16 of the handling station 14 (cf. 1 ) is desirable. However, the drive motors 42 and/or 44 used show the special feature that with this drive variant, after a machine standstill, after a power failure, after a shutdown and/or after a restart, a calibration of a control device of the exact positions of the drive units is necessary in order to achieve the desired to be able to ensure precise setting and manipulation movements of all movable and driven elements and components of the handling and/or parallel kinematics robot 24 .

It should be pointed out at this point that the parallel kinematic or handling robot 24, which is the subject of the calibration method according to the invention, in the exemplary embodiment shown has three equally dimensioned upper arms 36, each arranged at a 120° angular offset to one another, each with identical lower arms 40 and movable in between and/or or has a rotatably suspended tool head 28 . Such so-called tripods are often used in practice and are excellently suited for precise movement control, for example for manipulating articles, objects, piece goods, bundles or for manipulating groups with several such articles, objects, piece goods, bundles, as above already referring to the 1 was explained.

In the case of the Figures 2A to 2H In the calibration method according to the invention illustrated below in its successive method steps, the tool head 28 can basically be in any position after it has been switched off and after it has been switched on again and a power supply restored, at least for the servomotors 42 of the upper arms 36, which is based on the Figure 2A it is clear where the tool head 28 is shifted to the right in the illustration, which is accompanied by two lowered upper arms 36 and a slightly raised upper arm 36 . The cardanically mounted drive shaft 30, which runs between the upper suspension 32 and the tool head 28 and is necessary for the rotational movements of the tool head 28, therefore does not run vertically, but in a clearly inclined position. Instead of the in Figure 2A In addition to the starting position shown as an example, any other position of the movable arms 26, the drive shaft 30 and the tool head 28 movably mounted on the lower arms 40 can be the starting position for the calibration method according to the invention, provided such a position can be reached with the maximum possible pivoting movements of the upper arms 36 .

In order to enable the most precise possible calibration of the moving components, in a first process step (cf. Figure 2B ) by establishing an approximately central position of the tool head 28 and an approximately vertical drive shaft 30 by detecting the load moments acting on the upper arm pivot axes 38 and by comparing the respective load moments acting on the total of three upper arms 36 by means of the motor drives 42 moving the upper arms 36 in each case approximately matching angular positions of all three upper arms 36 set. The load torques can be calculated very precisely from the 42 expended electrical currents are obtained, so that in the Figure 2B clarified approximately horizontal position of all three upper arms 36 can be adjusted.

It does not need to be mentioned separately at this point that, in order to carry out this first method step, a central control unit (not shown) responsible for controlling the motorized drives 42 of the upper arms 36 is switched on and the control program implemented there is started, which, for example, after a switch-off phase, requires a certain amount of time to start the program. Normally, all motor drives 42 are also initialized and referenced in this starting phase, in order to be able to convert each control command for driving the servomotors 42 into drive movements that are as precise as possible.

In the first method step described here, in which roughly matching angular positions of the three upper arms 36 are set by detecting the load moments acting on the horizontal upper arm pivot axes 38 and by comparing the respective load moments acting on the upper arms 36 with the aid of the motor drives 42 , the primary goal, which is characteristic of the calibration method according to the invention, is to find an approximately central position for the tool head 28 within its movement and/or manipulation space, which, in the absence of optical or other position control, is most useful by detecting the load moments acting on the upper arms 36 can take place when the tool head 28 is unloaded. For this purpose, the upper arms 36 can, if necessary, be adjusted one after the other by relatively small adjustment angles or moved up and down until they have a matching load moment within a sensible hysteresis range of their load moments of, for example, less than one Newton meter.

This useful hysteresis range, which can be used advantageously in practice, can also be less than 0.5 Nm, in particular less than approx can be recognized or accepted. In this way, it can be ensured that the angular positions set on the upper arms 36 by means of their drive motors 42 both have minimum difference angles to the upper and lower end positions and also define a location of the tool head 28 that is within a defined distance from an approximately central position within its range of motion is located. It can therefore be assumed that after this setting procedure of the first method step, the tool head 28 stands or hangs almost in the middle within the movement space and between the three movable arms 26 of the parallel kinematic robot 24 .

After this central position of the tool head 28 has been reached with the upper arms 36 aligned approximately horizontally, the upper arms 36 are pivoted upwards simultaneously and synchronously in a slow adjustment movement, which in Figure 2C is illustrated and indicated by the arrow pointing vertically upwards parallel to the longitudinal direction of the drive shaft. This adjustment movement of the upper arms 36 takes place at least so far upwards in the direction of their upper end position or their upper mechanical stop, until a mechanical stop position for the cardanically mounted drive shaft 30, which is telescopic in its longitudinal direction, is reached, at which the drive shaft reaches its shortest possible length setting has (cf. 2D ).

Since with a drive shaft 30 that can be telescoped in this way, the shortest possible length adjustment represents an insurmountable mechanical limit, it is imperative to take into account the limits of the telescoping capability of the drive shaft 30, especially since this stop also has an effect on the expansion of the movement space of the tool head 28 upwards.

However, since not all parallel kinematic robots 24 have to be equipped with rotatable tool heads 28 and thus with such drive shafts 30, but can also do without such a drive shaft 30 in simpler design variants, the following calibration sequence, explained with the aid of the following figures, is carried out as a second method step, i.e. without Considering the detection of the mechanical stop of the telescopic drive shaft 30 in its longitudinal direction.

After the upper stop for the telescoping drive shaft 30 according to 2D reached and the corresponding angular positions of the upper arms 36 as well as the load moments applied to the drive motors 42 were recorded, the tool head 28 according to FIG Figure 2E gradually be lowered again until appropriate Figure 2F again a position with approximately horizontal upper arms 36 has been reached. Starting from this approximately centered position of the tool head 28, in a first method step, immediately (if there is no drive shaft 30) or after going through the intermediate steps described (cf. Figures 2D through 2F ) following In a further method step, which is referred to here as the second method step, one of the total of three upper arms 36 of the handling robot 24 is brought into one of its two end positions, namely the upper end position (cf. Figure 2H ), whereby the extreme angular position reached in this way is detected by sensors and used to initialize the position and/or angle of the respective upper arm 36.

The pivoting, lifting and lowering movements carried out here are indicated by arrows, with only the Figure 2H upper arm 36 lying on the left is pivoted upwards, while the other two upper arms 36 are held in their approximately horizontal position. The lower arm 40 coupled to the upper arm 36 raised in this way is thereby clearly raised upwards, which also raises the tool head 28 at this point and at the same time shifts it to the left (see arrow direction). Finally, these pivoting movements, during which the other two lower arms 40 are moved passively, also cause the drive shaft 30 to be tilted significantly to the left, since it is mounted between the tool head 28 and the upper suspension 32 and cannot move freely.

Subsequently, the respective upper arm 36 can be moved back from its previously set upper end position approximately into the previously assumed initial angular position, which is the orientation of the arms 26 according to Figure 2G is equivalent to. By assuming the respective end positions or mechanical stops for the upper arms 36, the drive units 42 of the upper arms 36 can each be referenced in their positions. Like it the Figure 2H can clearly be seen, the upper end stops of the upper arms 36 are particularly suitable as the end positions of the upper arm pivoting movements selected for carrying out the second method step, which thus also serve as reference positions for the referencing of the upper arm drive units 42.

Since not only one of the upper arms 36, but also the two other upper arms 36 are to be referenced in the same way, in a third method step, another upper arm 36 of the handling device 18 or of the handling robot 24 can be brought into the same by motorized pivoting about its upper arm pivot axis 38 both end positions are brought, which are also in the second process step ( Figure 2H ) was selected, with the angular position reached being detected by sensors and used to initialize the position and/or angle of the upper arm 36 in question. Also here it is to be provided that the upper arm returns from its end position reached in connection with the implementation of the third method step approximately into the previously assumed starting angular position ( Figure 2G ) is moved back. The same applies to the third upper arm 36, which is to be referenced and calibrated in the same way in a fourth method step following the third method step.

Furthermore, it can be mentioned that it makes sense in connection with the method steps of the method according to the invention explained above, while performing the second and/or third and/or fourth and/or fifth method steps and the corresponding motor movements of the upper arms to carry out a repeated recording of the respective drive torques at defined time intervals, since such a permanent recording and monitoring can be used in an advantageous manner to detect a mechanical stop and/or a mechanical stop and/or a mechanical stop and/or a mechanical stop and/or a mechanical stop and/or or end stop for the affected upper arm.

Such a torque limitation makes it possible to reliably detect an existing mechanical stop for each of the pivoting movements of the motor-driven upper arms carried out only on the basis of detecting the electrical currents to be applied and without any optical or other sensory motion detection, with this mechanical stop usually being characterized by a torque limit. Such a torque limit does not have to be fixed, but can be used and used in an advantageous manner for different angular positions and associated different torque values in a movement sequence due to the permanent dynamic possibility of change. This also results in the universal applicability and functionality of the referencing described, even with different grippers or tripod robots, which can be equipped, for example, with differently dimensioned arms and/or tool heads that are dimensioned differently and therefore have different weights.

When starting the centering as part of a calibration process, it can be advantageous to identify the upper arm that delivers the highest torque value during an adjustment. This determined torque can, for example be used to set a suitable torque limit for the subsequent calibration process on the basis of this value, if necessary plus a reasonable addition of, for example, 0.5 to about 1.5 Nm. During the process of centering the tool head, this determined torque can be sufficient to move the tool head to the center of its range of motion without exceeding this torque limit.

In addition, the method can provide that an iterative torque detection is provided when pivoting (moving up) in the direction of the selected end position of at least one of the upper arms at its respective end stop. As a result, when the method is being carried out, it can be continuously recognized whether an end position and thus a mechanical stop has already been reached. If the previously determined torque limit is exceeded during a movement of one of the upper arms, a check is carried out to determine whether the axis in question has moved by a defined small swivel angle of, for example, more than 0.3° since the torque limit was set or the last torque increase . If this is the case, this is not recognized as a collision or as reaching the mechanical stop, but only as a statement that the torque generated by the drive is not sufficient to move the corresponding axis. If the torque limit is then increased by a reasonable value of around 0.5 Nm, for example, the pivoting movement can be continued on this basis. However, if the axis movement during the measured increase in torque was less than the defined small differential angle of, for example, 0.3°, it can be assumed in the method according to the invention that a collision or an end position or a mechanical end stop has been reached.

This described method can be used when all conceivable mechanical stops for the handling robot are reached, for example when the tool head is placed on a platform below its movement space or on a horizontal conveyor device located there, which can be formed by a mat chain or similar conveyor device can. Since it does not make sense to move the tool head against this horizontal conveying device, in particular to press it down against this lower bearing surface, this position that has been reached can also be recognized and defined as the lower end position in the calibration method. If such a meaningful test was carried out with a touchdown of the gripper at its lower end stop, it can then be raised and the Centering must be carried out again in order to approach the upper end stops for calibration.

The schematic representation of Figures 3A to 3C illustrate a further useful embodiment of the method according to the invention, in which, in an alternative or independent of the previously described and/or in a further method step in separate calibration steps, a rotational position of the tool head 28 suspended on the total of three parallel-kinematically movable arms 26 is calibrated by tool head 28, which is rotatable about a vertical axis of rotation 46 or a tool head slightly inclined relative to the vertical, is brought into a defined rotational position within its movement space with a known position and/or orientation of the three movable arms 26 ( Figure 3A ) and moved to a defined distance from an object and/or fixed contact point 48 ( Figure 3B ) and then brought into contact with this object and/or contact point 48 by rotating the tool head 28 and the new rotational position reached in the process is recorded and processed for calibrating the rotary drive 44 of the tool head 28 (cf. Figure 3C and the arrow indicating rotation).

A gripping arm arranged on tool head 28 and suspended there is not shown for reasons of simplification, but serves as a part to be contacted, which is brought into contact with the object and/or fixed contact point 48 in order to control the rotary movements of drive shaft 30 and the drive movements of the drive motor responsible for this 44 to calibrate.

Even if "schematic" representations and views are generally referred to in connection with the figures, this in no way means that the representations in the figures and their description are to be of secondary importance with regard to the disclosure of the invention. The person skilled in the art is quite capable of deriving enough information from the diagrammatic and abstractly drawn illustrations to make it easier for him to understand the invention, without having to go out of his way the drawn and possibly not exactly true-to-scale proportions of the moving parts of the handling device 18 or other drawn elements would in any way impair his understanding. The figures enable the person skilled in the art as a reader to derive a better understanding of the inventive concept formulated more generally and/or more abstractly in the claims and in the general part of the description on the basis of the more concretely explained implementations of the method according to the invention.

Reference List

• 8 machine environment
• 10 horizontal conveyor
• 12 transport direction, conveying direction
• 14 handling station
• 16 support and transport surface
• 18 handling device
• 20 conveying surface
• 22 investment bars
• 24 parallel kinematic robots, handling robots
• 26 arm, articulated arm
• 28 tool head
• 30 drive shaft, cardan shaft, drive connection
• 32 upper suspension
• 34 frame
• 36 upper arm
• 38 horizontal pan axis
• 40 forearm
• 42 drive motor (for upper arm)
• 44 drive motor (for drive shaft)
• 46 axis of rotation (tool head, rotatable tool head)
• 48 point of attachment, solid object

Claims (12)

1. A method for referencing, calibrating, and/or initialising a handling device (18), in particular, a handling robot and/or parallel kinematic robot (24), with a tool head (28) suspended from at least two parallel-kinematically movable arms (26), which tool head (28) has a movable drive connection, in particular, a length-variably and/or articulately movable cardan shaft (30) between a stationary drive motor (44) and the tool head (28), which is movable about at least one rotational axis,

   - wherein each of the at least two arms (26) comprises an upper arm (36), which is motor-movable between two end positions about a defined upper-arm swivel axis (38), as well as also comprising a lower arm (40), which is mounted swivelably movable on the upper arm (36),

   - and wherein the arms (26) hold the tool head (28), which is movably suspended from the at least two lower arms (40), and which is movable within a defined movement range by program-controlled and mutually coordinated swivel movements of the upper arms (36) as well as of the thereby guided lower arms (40),

   - characterised in that corresponding angular positions of the at least two upper arms (36) are in each instance adjusted by the motor drives (42) in a first method step by detection of the load torques acting on the upper-arm swivel axes (38) and by comparison of the particular load torques acting on the at least two upper arms (36) and/or by detection of signals from position sensors and/or angle sensors,

   - whereupon the at least two upper arms (36) are moved in a second method step by simultaneous and/or approximately synchronous swivelling about their particular swivel axes (38) up to a limit position, which is defined by a mechanical stop of the drive connection to the tool head (28), which drive connection is movable independently of the upper arms (36), and whereupon the tool head (28) and/or the drive connection assigned thereto is/are in a third method step distanced by a defined swivel angle from the limit position by a return movement of the at least two upper arms (36),

   - whereby the adjusted angular positions of the at least two upper arms (36) in each instance have defined difference angles to the two end positions and/or define a situation of the tool head (28) located within a defined distance to a central position within the movement range,

   - wherein at least one of the at least two upper arms (36) of the handling device (18) is brought into one of the two end positions in a further or fourth method step by motorised swivelling about the particular upper-arm swivel axis (38); and the angular position reached in this connection is sensor-detected and used for the position initialisation and/or angle initialisation of the particular upper arm (36), whereupon the upper arm (36) is returned from its end position into a defined angular position and/or into the previously assumed initial angular position,

   - and whereupon a further of the at least two upper arms (36) of the handling device (18) is brought into one of its two end positions in a subsequent further or fifth method step by motorised swivelling about the particular upper-arm swivel axis (38) with said end position also having been selected in the previous or fourth method step; and the angular position reached in this connection is sensor-detected and used for the position initialisation and/or angle initialisation of the relevant upper arm (36).
2. The method according to claim 1, in which a third of a total of at least three present upper arms (36) of the handling device (18) is brought into one of its two or into the same of the two end positions in a further or sixth method step following the fifth method step by motorised swivelling about its upper-arm swivel axis (38) with said end position also having been selected for each of the other swivelled upper arms (36) in the fourth and in the fifth method step; and the angular position reached in this connection is sensor-detected and used for the position initialisation and/or angle initialisation of the relevant upper arm (36).
3. The method according to claim 2, in which a fourth of a total of at least four present upper arms (36) of the handling device (18) is brought into one of its two or into the same of the two end positions in a further or seventh method step following the sixth method step by motorised swivelling about its upper-arm swivel axis (38) with said end position also having been selected for each of the other swivelled upper arms (36) in the fourth, in the fifth, and also in the sixth method step; and the angular position reached in this connection is sensor-detected and used for the position initialisation and/or angle initialisation of the relevant upper arm (36).
4. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 3, in which a detection of the particular drive torques is performed in a permanent manner and/or repeated at defined intervals during the carrying out of the second and/or third and/or fourth and/or fifth and/or sixth and/or seventh method steps and during the corresponding motorised movements of the upper arms (36); and wherein an exceeding of a specified difference value for successive torque values is identified as mechanical stop and/or end stop for the particular relevant upper arm (36).
5. The method according to claim 4, in which an iterative torque detection during the swivelling toward the selected end position of at least one of the upper arms (36) to its particular end stop is provided.
6. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 3, in which a detection of the particular angular positions of the upper arms (36) is performed in a permanent manner and/or repeated at defined intervals during the carrying out of the second and/or third and/or fourth and/or fifth and/or sixth and/or seventh method steps and during the corresponding motorised movements of the upper arms (36); and wherein a falling below of a specified difference value for successively measured angular positions of a particular upper arm (36) is identified as mechanical stop and/or end stop for the particular relevant upper arm (36).
7. The method according to claim 6, in which an iterative angle detection during the swivelling toward the selected end position of at least one of the upper arms (36) to its particular end stop is provided.
8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, in which, after having reached the upper and/or lower limit position defined by the mechanical stop for the angular position of the upper arms (36), the second and/or third and/or fourth and/or fifth and/or sixth and/or seventh method steps are performed in consideration of the maximally reachable angular position of the upper arms (36) in an adjustment together.
9. The method according to one of the claims 1 to 8, in which an angular position of the tool head (38), which is suspended from the at least two parallel-kinematically movable arms (26), is calibrated in an alternative and/or further method step by the tool head (28) being brought into a defined angular position within the movement range with the position and/or orientation of the at least two movable arms (26) being known, which tool head (28) is rotatable about a rotational axis (46), and which rotational axis (46) is vertical or slightly inclined in relation to the vertical, and by the tool head (28) being moved to a defined distance from an object and/or from a stationary contact point (48), and by the tool head (28) subsequently being brought into contact with said object and/or contact point (48) by rotating the tool head (28), and by the new angular position reached thereby being detected and processed for the calibration of the rotary drive (44) of the tool head (28).
10. A program-controlled handling device (18), in particular, a handling robot and/or parallel kinematic robot (24), with a tool head (28) suspended from at least two parallel-kinematically movable arms (26), wherein each of the at least two arms (26) comprises an upper arm (36), which is motor-movable between two end positions about a defined upper-arm swivel axis (38), as well as also comprising a lower arm (40), which is mounted swivelably movable on the upper arm (36), and wherein the arms (26) hold a tool head (28), which is movably suspended from at least two lower arms (40), and which tool head (28) has a movable drive connection, in particular, a length-variably and/or articulately movable cardan shaft (30) between a stationary drive motor (44) and the tool head (28), which is movable about at least one rotational axis, and which tool head (28) is movable within a defined movement range by program-controlled and mutually coordinated swivel movements of the upper arms (36) as well as of the thereby guided lower arms (40), wherein the handling device comprises a central control unit, in which control programs for the control of all movements of the at least two movable arms (26) are stored, which control programs comprise a referencing program, calibration program, and/or initialisation program or a plurality of referencing programs, calibration programs, and/or initialisation programs, which are provided and suitable to perform one of the method variants according to one of the claims 1 to 9.
11. The program-controlled handling device (18) according to claim 10, which, as handling robot and/or positioning robot, forms a part of a conveying apparatus, stacking apparatus, and/or palletising apparatus, in particular, for the conveying, handling, stacking, and/or palletising of piece goods and/or packs.
12. The program-controlled handling device (18) according to claim 10, which, as handling robot and/or manipulation robot, forms a part of a production apparatus and/or workpiece-treatment apparatus, in particular, for the production, treatment, and/or modification of workpieces in a production environment.

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